Gloucester Marathon 20 Jan 2013

There's not that many marathons in January, and this one fills a gap nicely. 3 times round a 7 mile loop of quiet rural roads, and a bit to make up the distance. Not as flat as London, maybe 6 or 7 minutes difference. Not the cheapest, but what you get for your money is a proven First Aid service, and a hired sports hall. Mementos and prizes have been quite nice too.

Forumites and Fetchies will be in attendance.

And I've just entered and put the money where the mouth is, so to speak.

Hi, Blisters.

This one is actually on my birthday.  Do I have a moral obligation to enter it?

I'm tending not to race in winter these days due to breathing in cold air which seems to be the main trigger giving me asthma symptoms.  And you can't really race a marathon with a buff around your nose and mouth (which is what I do in my winter training LSRs)

TRex
Here's my weather recollections from the various marathons that I used to target.

April: Drizzle 50%. Sunburn 30%. Frost 10% Windy 10%. Hissing down 20% chance.
July: Sunburn 10% Heat 40%, Drizzle 20%. Wind 10%, Shower 10% Flood10%
Sept/Oct: Sunburn 0%. Drizzle 30% Single figure cold 40%, Wind 10% Gale 10% Fog 5% Rain 5% A really nice day 40%.
January: Frost 10%, Snow 1%, Ice 2%, Flood 2%, Sunburn 0%, drizzle 15%, Wind 10%, Rain 10%, A really nice day 50%.
Pedants will notice that the percentages don't add up to 100, as some options are not mutually exclusive. The irony is that I've had better weather in winter than summer. Most sunburn is in April, worst floods July, worst gales October, and January has produced a beautiful swatch of glorious blue sky days to remember. Run it for fun, as there are flatter courses out there, but this one really sets you up for April.

is it really not that hilly? I've been doing loads of hill training just in case

I will be there as well. It is a great low key race. The only problem is that the one hill gets longer and steepwe each lap!

Hello everyone, sorry for butting in. Am I right in thinking that this one has a 5hr 30min time limit for the Mara?

I promise you that it's not long. I also promise you that your Garmin is only accurate to 99%. That seems good enough, but it equates to that 0.262 miles, ie about 400m on an open country marathon. Whenever I've run London mara the data log reckons I've done 27-28 miles. Total rubbish. It's mathematical errors of triangulation created by satellite radio signals being bounced off the reflective walls of high rise buildings, and shielding by buildings, which means that triangulation is calculated from a different set of satellites every few hundred metres. Once in a while the calculation will estimate that you're in the Thames. That's only true for a limited period with most athletes. The Garmin's a great tool, but it is a tool and you need to understand it. BTW, all the other runner GPS devices use the same receiver/computer, so they are all the same. (Did I go OTT there? sorry)

Vixxy, no idea. check the previous race results to see what they really do.

Thanks Blisters. Have just looked and the last person was 5:29:xx and the three after that person had no time by them (that was recognisable as a time - just numbers).

Won't be doing this one then

Just entered along with Mrs Easy!  It's my first, so I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not.  Mrs Easy isn't keen on 'loop marathons'; she did Luton a few years back and that's three times around the same course, and she found it a bit tedious.

Stil, it'll help shift some Christmas fat I suppose! 

Did this one on a whim this year - no training and totally pissed up the night before - still managed to break 5hrs. The one hill of around 100m definitely gets longer each time around. Muzza agree with you - course is slightly long - Garmin also measured almost exact on every mile marker and yet from the 26m took .4 of a mile not .2. Oh and for all those doing it this year remember to have a running jacket with you - it can get rather exposed out in the countryside and a slight breeze at that time of year will feel rather cold. Nice run otherwise but as I have now moved back to Scotland I wont be doing it next year

I'm in.  Can't wait....well thats a slight lie.. but you know what I mean.